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I know it’s wrong to talk about a man who’s about to get married, so I change the subject. “It’s been a while since I got choked up about Mom, but it happened today.” I’ve always been able to talk to John about my mother. He’s really the only person I have to talk to about her. I know keeping my feelings bottled up isn’t healthy, so I have to let it out sometimes. “You remember when we took that trip to Italy, right? Just me and Mom.”
“Yeah, I remember. Dad sent you two off on an adventure for your eighteenth birthday present. You didn’t want to come back home either.” His grin tells me he remembers it perfectly.
I never understood why I couldn’t have stayed in Italy. “So, can you tell me now why I couldn’t stay there? I was of legal age. There was a woman who was going to give me a job and a place to live at the bed and breakfast she ran. And there was a very cute guy there too.”
“And that’s why you didn’t get to stay.” The twinkle in his eyes makes me wonder if he’s telling the truth.
“It had to be more than that.” I can tell when he’s teasing.
Scooping more food onto his plate, he goes on, “Your home is here, Bella. It has been since you were two and your mother brought you here after your father died.”
I knew the story well. “Your father and my mother had dated back in high school, and as soon as he found out that she’d lost her husband and had a little girl, he came to her rescue and took us both in. He treated me like I was his own child. Not long after, they got married, and your father adopted me legally, changing my last name to Conti.”
“That’s right. And I fell head over heels in love with my baby stepsister. The rest is history. See, you belong here, with us, your family.”
“But there’s not a family here anymore. Not like a real family with a mom and dad. The warmth I used to feel every time I came into this house is gone.” John does all he can, but he can’t replace our parents. “I guess I’m really beginning to miss them and the way we all were. And I suppose I’ve thought a time or two about how my life would have been if I had stayed in Italy and made a life there with that cute local boy.”
Tears well up behind my eyes. I feel a hand on mine and look up to see John eyeing me with empathy in his big brown eyes. “Bella, I know you’re lonely. It’s not gonna be that way much longer.”
“How do you know that for sure?” I don’t even have a guy I’m dating. How can he know that I won’t be alone forever?
“I just know. Life won’t pass you by. You’ll see. You were meant to be with us, the Conti family. One day, everything will fall into place, and you’ll understand why you’re so important to our family. Even with our parents gone, you are still very much a part of a family.”
I wish I had the faith he does. But I just don’t. “And if I never find anyone and end up alone, then what?”
“I don’t want you to worry about that happening to you. You’re important. Don’t ever forget that. You have a purpose in this life. You’re on the verge of greatness and don’t even know it yet.”
“With the wedding planner career?” I’m hopeful that it’ll take off and I’ll be able to fully support myself instead of living off my stepbrother’s money.
“Sure.” Going back to eating, he leaves nothing on the plate before getting up to take our plates to the kitchen. “You cooked, so I’ll clean. Maybe you should go take a nice, long, hot bath. That might cheer you up some. Tomorrow is another big day of wedding planning at Carlo’s. You want to be well-rested for that.”
Just the thought of getting to see Carlo again excites me, and I jump up and rush to my room to grab my things before taking a bath. There’s so much I want to do before the morning comes— I want to check out some websites about planning the perfect wedding.
It takes no time to get a bath going, and I settle into it, allowing myself to fully relax. John’s right. I need to be well-rested. I can’t let anxiety get to me. I have to focus on what’s important, and that’s giving Carlo and his fiancé the wedding of their dreams—Even though neither seems to have any dreams about weddings at all.
I really want to meet this woman.
A man like Carlo Vietti seems like he would be attracted to a feminine woman. A real softy who would love to plan her own wedding. Instead, it sounds like he’s marrying a woman with a career that’s more important to her than he is.
And with the wedding so close, why wouldn’t she be in town, at the very least? And what about her family? Surely, they want something to do with the wedding.
With more questions than answers, I submerge my entire head under the water and try not to think about business that’s not mine.
Carlo can love anyone he wants. If he wants to marry a woman who isn’t really right for him, then he can. He’s rich and probably powerful too. And if he wants a loveless marriage with a career woman who can’t even take five minutes to spend time with him, then he can most certainly do that.
If it were me, though, I would be there with him, making the decisions together. And I would want to make plans for a honeymoon too. A great one where we could fall in love with each other all over again.
If they’re even in love right now. It doesn’t seem like they are. The way he looked at me, held my face in his hands, and talked to me, it seemed like he didn’t even remember that he’s engaged.
But if he wasn’t engaged, I’d be all over that man!
Chapter 3
Carlo
“My little sister has a crush on you,” John lets me know.
“How sweet.” Smiling, I take a bite of the shrimp linguini I ordered. It fails to even come close in flavor to the one my chef makes.
